RBI drains ₹1.2 lakh crore in a day as banks park cash at the SDF
The Reserve Bank of India pulled ₹1,20,292 crore out of the banking system in a single day on Friday, as lenders parked ₹1,99,509 crore overnight at the central bank's standing deposit facility at 5.25 per cent, according to the RBI's money market operations data for October 23.
That absorption far outweighed the ₹50,003 crore the RBI injected through a three-day variable rate repo at a 5.58 per cent cut-off, plus ₹27,382 crore drawn under the marginal standing facility at 5.75 per cent. Banks also used the SDF for two and three-day tenors, placing ₹70 crore and ₹2,737 crore respectively.
Overnight money market volumes reached ₹7,08,940 crore. Call money traded at a weighted average of 5.78 per cent, triparty repo at 5.75 per cent and market repo at 5.71 per cent, while repo against corporate bonds cleared at 5.89 per cent.
The picture shifts when older operations are counted. Outstanding variable rate repo of ₹1,00,014 crore, placed on October 19 and maturing October 26, and a ₹29,555 crore reverse repo taken on October 8 lifted net liquidity from outstanding operations to a surplus of ₹80,870 crore. Including Friday's dealings, the net position was a deficit of ₹39,421 crore.
Banks held ₹8,45,527 crore in cash balances with the RBI as of October 23, against an average daily cash reserve requirement of ₹8,33,309 crore for the fortnight ending October 31. The RBI put net durable liquidity at a surplus of ₹10,14,401 crore as of September 30, and reported ₹10,411 crore availed under the standing liquidity facility.
